Benjamin Ross is an American blogger, originally from Kansas City, now working for a month as a trainee (学徒) at a barber shop in Fuzhou and writing about 7 work day a week employment at the lower end of China’s economy.
Now about half way through his month-long stint, he has made a fascinating comparison of working hours:
American job: 1,936 hours per year (242 work days)
Teaching English in China: 919.2 hours per year (230 work days)
Job in Chinese barbershop: 3,542 hours per year (322 work days)
So there you have it. My job in the barbershop requires me to put in almost twice the hours I would put in had I been working in the US and nearly 4 times the amount of hours I would have put in as an English teacher in China, not to mention that it also requires nearly 100 more work days per year as well. All this for a job which pays 800 RMB ($105 USD) per month.
Your correspondent hates to be the first to make this joke, but Benjamin Ross is truly not in Kansas anymore.
- Ben’s Blog: Snakes in a Barbershop
- Ben’s blog: The Huan Ying Guang Lin meeting
- Ben’s blog: Where are all the women?
- Financial Times: Profits of doom